Based on an analysis of the last six months’ sales, your boss notices that sales of beef products are declining in your chain’s restaurants. As beef entrée sales decline, so do profits. Fearing beef sales have declined due to several newspaper stories reporting E. coli contamination discovered at area grocery stores, he suggests a survey of all area restaurants to see if the situation is persuasive.

a. What do you think of this research suggestion? b. How if at all, could you improve on your boss’s formulation of the research question?

There are many possible reasons that beef sales may be declining. Of the many possibilities the e coli contamination could be one of them but I would be cautious of assuming the situation is due to e coli news coverage.
First I would also clarify the objective of the research. I would have to assume that my boss isn’t concerned that the local population isn’t eating enough beef. I would have to assume that the beef sales translate into something else that concerns my boss, such as a lower margin per entrée or lower revenues being generated by the store. Clarifying what the actual problem is would be my first step.
Before surveying area restaurants I would begin with analyzing the data collected at my establishment. Are the customers in our store choosing options other than beef or do we just have fewer customers? An issue could be that customers are looking for healthier options. There could also be a local vegetarian or vegan movement. If the problem is that we have fewer customers or the problem is that fewer of the customers are eating beef would alter the course of suggested research.
If the problem was that the customers just weren’t ordering beef one possible research target could be the beef suppliers. These suppliers could be contacted to ask if they are experiencing fewer orders or smaller orders of